AACSB APPEAL PROCEDURE FOR
ACCREDITATION DECISIONS
Only the following adverse decisions may be appealed:
(1) Denial of initial accreditation,
(2) Revocation of accredited status, or
(3) During the process of establishing eligibility, seeking initial AACSB
accreditation, removal from the initial accreditation process by the Initial
Accreditation Committee or the Accounting Accreditation Committee. The
status of the business school or accounting unit will remain unchanged
pending the outcome of an appeal.
The only bases for an appeal are violations of written AACSB procedures or that the
decision appealed is arbitrary and capricious and in substantial disregard of material facts.
The procedures for an appeal are:
1. A business school or accounting unit's request for an appeal hearing must be
submitted in writing to the AACSB International president within thirty (30) days of
notification of the negative decision. The basis of appeal must be clearly stated and
relate directly to AACSB accreditation standards or processes.
2. When an appeal is filed, an Appeal Panel will be convened. Members of the Appeal
Panel shall be drawn from among the members of the Accreditation Council who have
no connection to the appellant and did not participate in the adverse action being
appealed from.
3. Upon receipt of the request for appeal, and within thirty (30) days of receipt of the
appeal request, the AACSB board chair (or designee) shall provide the appellant
business school or accounting unit with the names of three Accreditation Council
member representatives willing to serve on an appeal panel, from which the appellant
shall select one person to serve on the appeal panel. The appellant may require the
submission of a new list of three Accreditation Council members if it finds that all three
of the initial submissions have a demonstrable conflict of interest and therefore should
not so serve.
4. The appellant business school or accounting unit shall concurrently provide AACSB
with three names of Accreditation Council member representatives willing to serve on
the appeal panel within thirty (30) days of delivery of the appeal request, from which
AACSB Board Chair (or designee) must select one person to serve on the panel.
AACSB’s representative may require the submission of a new list of three Accreditation
Council members if it finds that all three of the initial submissions have a demonstrable
conflict of interest and therefore should not so serve.
5. Within twenty-one (21) days of confirmation of their selection, the two members thus
chosen shall select a third member willing to serve on the appeal panel from the
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Effective: August 2012
Accreditation Council or a non-educational AACSB member representative. If any
members of the Appeal Panel subsequently are unwilling to serve, the process is
repeated and the time frame may be extended by agreement of all parties.
6. For accounting accreditation appeals, Accreditation Council representatives shall
include accounting program directors or faculty members from schools possessing
accounting accreditation.
7. The appeal panel shall not include any members of the peer review team, accreditation
committees, or Board of Directors who participated in the process leading to the
decision under appeal. Appeal panel members should possess knowledge of the
respective accounting or business accreditation process which is subject to the appeal.
8. The three appeal panel members shall choose one of its members to serve as chair.
The appeal panel chair shall determine the date of the appeal hearing and shall notify
all parties at least thirty (30) days in advance of the appeal hearing. The appeal
hearing shall be an open proceeding unless the appellant business school or
accounting unit requests that it be closed. The appeal hearing date shall be within six
(6) months of notification of the adverse decision and will take place at the AACSB
International Headquarters location.
9. AACSB staff shall provide each panel member and all participating parties with copies
of all correspondence, reports, and other materials relating to the decision being
appealed, along with a copy of the request for appeal.
10. All costs and expenses incurred by AACSB in providing for the appeal hearing,
expenses of the appeal hearing panel, and all other expenses (exclusive of legal fees,
if any) in connection with the appeal shall be borne by the appellant business school or
accounting unit. This includes the meeting costs and travel costs of the appeal panel
and AACSB’s and the host business school or accounting unit’s staff and
representatives at the hearing. A deposit for estimated expenses is required to be
submitted by the appellant business school or accounting unit within thirty (30) days of
receipt of the appeal request. Additional expenses will be paid by the appellant school
or refunds of deposits will be reimbursed immediately following the hearing.
11. Either party of the appeal hearing panel may request a transcript of the hearing. The
request for a transcript must be sent to the appeal panel chair at least twenty (20) days
before the date of the hearing. Costs of the transcript will be shared equally by the
appellant business school or accounting unit and AACSB. Any legal fees incurred by
AACSB shall be paid by the corporation.
12. The appeal hearing shall be conducted in accordance with procedures determined by
the panel. Representatives of the appellant business school or accounting unit and
AACSB shall have the right to appear before the panel, to present evidence, to crossexamine witnesses, to be represented by counsel, and to present oral argument, all
within the limitations prescribed by the panel chair. All evidence presented must relate
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Effective: August 2012
to the facts and circumstances that existed at the time of the original decision. New
evidence regarding facts and circumstances for periods after the original decision date
is not allowed. The appeal hearing shall normally proceed in the following order
(clarifying questions may be raised at any stage):
Appellant business school or accounting unit presents its case
AACSB presents rebuttal
Rebuttal by appellant, if desired
Summation by AACSB
Summation by appellant business school or accounting unit
13. In reviewing the decision, the appeal hearing panel shall be limited to consideration of
facts that existed at the appellant business school or accounting unit prior to and at the
time of the decision, not on changes in conditions since the decision or the appellant
business school or accounting unit's plans for change. Subject to the professional
judgment of the appeal panel, the decision shall be sustained by the appeal hearing
panel unless the appellant business school or accounting unit shows by clear and
convincing evidence that the decision being appealed is arbitrary and capricious and in
substantial disregard of material facts in existence at the time of the original decision.
For a procedural or process error by AACSB to constitute grounds for reversal, the
appellant business school or accounting unit must show that it has been prejudiced by
such error.
14. The appeal panel must either reverse or sustain the decision being appealed. If a
majority of the appeal panel votes to reverse the decision by a majority vote, the
decision is reversed; otherwise, the decision is sustained.
15. The appeal panel decision shall be in writing and shall include a statement of the
grounds for the decision. The decision shall be submitted to the appellant business
school or accounting unit and AACSB within thirty (30) days of the hearing.
16. The decision of the appeal panel shall be final.
17. All parties to the appeal process (including members of the appeal hearing panel)
are expected to adhere to the time schedule stated in the steps of the Appeal
Procedure. All parties should be notified immediately if any extension of time is
required, and for good cause the appeal panel may grant reasonable extensions to
the appellant or AACSB. Delinquency of more than fifteen (15) days on the part of
the business school or accounting unit shall be grounds for the panel to declare the
appeal withdrawn.
AACSB International
Effective: August 2012